Many, if not all, professions require a sense of humor. That's certainly true in the case of the IT professional. Let's face it: we're pretty much stereotyped as social outcasts. The pocket protector industry would fold without our support. White adhesive tape would be utilized for purposes other than holding broken glasses frames together. Jolt Cola might not even exist!

Thus, the savvy among us learn early in the game to laugh at ourselves. Being able to laugh at yourself means that you realize that the world doesn't revolve around you. While they do exist, prima donna geeks are a dying breed. As workforces continue to shrink in tough economic times, geeks must take on people skills as well as their technical expertise.

90's-era tyrants like Nick Burns have either become nicer, or else they're out of the tech game:

Present-day geeks now tend to poke fun at themselves rather than taking it out on users:

Chris Pirillo, who broke into the interwebs about the same time as Yours Truly did (but who decided to go ahead and become a millionaire while he was at it) was an early proponent of keeping things light. He still is:

So let's keep it light, fellow geeks. We're not gods. Yeah, yeah, we know that mere users would shrivel and die without our help and attention, but let's let them continue to think they're in charge, whaddya say? It's good for one's career.

The Bald Guy, aka Ron Enderland, has been freelance writing since 1993 and has been a full-time IT professional since 2000. He has a Baby Boomer nostalgia blog, as well as a few other similarly inconsequential sites.